ARCH_500-600 Options Studio: ‘CIAdc’

What

 

The CIAdc was a speculative studio that sought to define and design a Culinary Institute of America in Washington, D.C. Culinary students there work side by side with teacher/chefs preparing, cooking, and serving meals in the campus restaurant. One learns by doing: the process is the learning and the cooking is the product.

The CIA is an urban live-work space. The work element consists of a teaching kitchen and restaurants, while the live component involves housing those who study and work there: the director/chef, six to eight student interns, and visiting fellows.

 

Where

 

The site was in Blagden Alley, a historic 19th-century city block comprising a collection of narrow streets and a few spectacular, urban “rooms.”

 

How

 

The studio was structured as a series of additive parts that informed the design of a whole. Learning by doing emphasizes taking the risk to learn what one does not know. The tool is questions and determining which questions to ask. What is right? What is good? And why?

 

Students started by thinking conceptually about the design, the logic (plan) of how kitchens work. Should, could, might, and or were self-determined: the goal was to define the brief. Conjectures were tested experientially, in section and perspective. Students considered how key primary spaces should look and feel. Toggling between the conceptual and experiential, they navigated the massing process and concluded with designing the facades, exploring the potential of the skin to mediate between conditions.

 

Product

 

The goal of the studio was to learn how to design and to develop confidence while doing it.

 

Necessitated by the pandemic, this course switched to Zoom mid-semester. The projects published here represent evolving design voices. They exemplify an act of faith, borne from a different teaching methodology, and hard work in a challenging situation. Most exceeded their own expectations. It was an extraordinary experience. I am grateful for the students’ enthusiasm.